It's just a month into the second Trump Administration, and already its impacts are being felt here in Northeast Ohio.

Last month, ICE agents raided a branch of the Cilantro Taqueria chain in Cleveland Heights. While we at Faith Communities Together for a Sustainable Future focus on energy issues and abuses of the environment in Ohio, it is clear that any truly sustainable future cannot include abuse of other human beings.

It is imperative that organizations and and individuals of faith resist the dark tactics of the Trump administration. Faith-based initiatives must make a clear case for the alignment between migrant and environmental justice, especially here in Ohio, a place that will be a destination for all manner of climate refugees from within and without our borders.

The border crisis is currently being framed as one of safety, but increasingly we are seeing that our borders are the front lines of the climate crisis and of the mass movement of humanity from warming equatorial regions to more temperate and resource-rich regions of the planet.

It portends even darker times in the future when the inevitability of climate refugee crises like those described by authors Jeff Goodell, Jake Bittle, and Peter Schartzstein are not the stuff of Cormac McCarthy novels but rather reality in places rich in high-qual-ity freshwater like Northeastern Ohio.

The climate emergency needs to be a larger part of our internal political debate, because it is an ever-growing reason that many asylum-seekers are coming here.

Their countries are experiencing hurri-canes, droughts, and punishing heat. Their crops are failing, and their children are going hungry, even as the developed world has been the leading contributor to the cli-

We have constructed harsher criteria and more physical barriers for migrants even as the political and climate chaos we've been instrumental in sowing in Central and South America manifests in all manner of ways.

Even the U.S. Department of Defense issued its own Climate Adaptation Plan Progress Report in 2022. Meanwhile, defense industry insiders like Sherri Goodman write of threat multipliers like climate security and climate-proofing security that are keeping the generals and admirals she talks to awake at night.

Truly empowered communities are communities that are not scared, embrace diver-sity, and understand that we are only as strong and as resilient as the least among us are made to feel. Constant harassment and threats by the Trump administration are antithetical to our mission and vision.

As Pope Francis warned Jan. 20, the mass deportations threatened by Trump would

"be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill" for the problem. . "That's not how things are resolved."

FaCT, based in Mentor and founded in 2011 at a meeting of representatives from eight Ohio congregations of various faith traditions, stands with the vulnerable and marginalized communities that these ICE raids are targeting.

Running interference and keeping a watchful eye as an organization and as individuals will be imperative in the coming months and years.

Too many have chosen to wave the white flag in the face of Trump's threats, including heretofore seemingly resolute partners.

Northeast Ohioans cannot recede into the background only to re-emerge in 2028.

If we ignore what is happening to our neighbors and to the planet under this administration, we might not recognize the damage that has been done four years down the road. Our neighbors and the planet are being targeted, and we must show the courage to stand up for both and run the kinds of interference necessary to prevent as much harm as we can.

What can you do? 

Set up social media filters and alerts that allow you to stay informed about raids or related activities happening in your area.

Call ICE field offices or detention centers like the one in Geauga County to ask questions. We need to let them know that we are watching. 

Keep our elected officials in DC abreast of our position on these raids. Call your member of Congress and our Ohio senators, and let them know how you feel about these dangerous ICE actions. Many of our elected officials are unaware of the full impact of these tactics and need to hear what we know and what we expect them to do.

Voicing our opposition is crucial right now. Senator Husted  and Senator Moreno may be on board with these ICE actions, but they still must hear from us and be made aware that we are watching how often and to what degree they bend the knee to Mr. Trump even when it means bullying and separating their fellow Ohioans from families and loved ones. 

Tell Congress to solve the problems around immigration and the border by passing the Bipartisan Immigration Bill of 2024 with the addition of protections and a path to citizenship for DREAMERS. History shows us that people immigrating to our country have made America great. 

Dr. Ted Auch, FaCT President

FaCT Board Of Trustees

Use the resources below to get involved and stay informed:

Cleveland Jobs With Justice (https://www.clevelandjwj.org/)

Cleveland Jobs With Justices Immigration Tracking Policy Project. 

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Detention centers in Ohio processing ICE detainees

Geauga Detention Center, Geauga County Safety Center 440-279-2009, Extension #3

Seneca Detention Center, Seneca County Jail (216) 535-0368

ICE Field Office Location, 925 Keynote Circle, Brooklyn Heights, OH 44131, (216) 749-9200

Seneca County Sheriff's Office, (419) 447-3456

ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System (ODLS)

Laken Riley Act explainer

Ohio Is Home - Use the Stay Safe dropdown; you will see links to all types of resources.